The Message of the Markets

Can the financial markets really foretell the future?

According to CNBC's veteran market watcher, Ron Insana, they can and do. Every day the world's markets are speaking — shouting, really — boldly predicting the future. In fact, they are reflecting information not yet revealed to the general public: events as dramatic as the outcome of a war, as tragic as a nuclear accident in some distant part of the globe, or as mundane but vitally important as the future direction of interest rates.

In order to understand what the markets are saying, you have to know how to listen to and interpret the messages they are sending. This is the first book to show readers how to understand the signals put out by the markets, and how to use that information to advantage in their lives.

Since ancient times, writes Insana, investors and merchants have met to buy and sell goods — and to exchange information and gossip. This information is reflected in the prices charged for those goods, whether it is news of war in a far-flung region that will cut off the gold supply or a crop failure that will make wheat scarce.

Now skip to the present day, where the proxies for goods and services — tradable securities — act in exactly the same fashion. From the price of oil to foreign-currency fluctuations, from the price of a stock to the interest rate offered on a bond, the financial markets provide clues to events great and small. For example, Insana documents how

• the stock market sent a shudder down Wall Street several moments before President John F. Kennedy was killed in Dallas
• the crude oil market warned the world that a war was coming between Iraq, Kuwait, and the United States — and then predicted a quick victory
• the wheat market told the West about the seriousness of the Chernobyl nuclear accident days before official word of the meltdown
• a tiny currency known as the Thai baht warned the global markets that the Asian economic crisis was imminent and potentially devastating.

In the world of finance, Insana reveals how

• the yield curve gives a one-year advance warning of an impending recession
• a little-known futures contract predicts with great precision what the Federal Reserve will do to interest rates weeks before the Fed makes its decision

At a more personal level, Insana shows how individuals who heed the warnings of the markets will make better personal decisions regarding

• investments
• mortgages and loans
• real estate purchases
• career choices
• and much more

Whether you are an investor, a market buff, or are simply interested in making better financial decisions, the markets are speaking to you in a very relevant and personal way. Let Ron Insana be your guide and interpreter to understanding the message of the markets.

1. Wall Street Wisdom
2. Practical Magic
3. All the World's a Sage
4. Both a Borrower and a Lender Be
5. The Real World
6. Cycle Times
7. Modern Times
8. The Message of the Markets

• Epilogue: The Market Is the Message

Interesting reading, but I have no clue if he's right.